In memoriam David Terán

Hello everybody,

I would like you all to take a short break from the usual development  
issues and bear with me for a short moment.

Today I learned that David Terán, an extremely talented WO developer,  
a very valuable contributor to this list and the WONDER project and a  
friend of mine and many others on these lists, has passed away on  
December 19, 2005. This came completely unexpected for me and  
certainly to many other people because he was humble enough to stay  
silent about the cancer he was suffering from.

I think almost everybody who was subscribed to this list in the  
course of the recent years has somehow recognized him. The archives  
of both mailing list are full of helpful advice and answers he  
provided to many people. Many developers (including myself) have  
benefitted a lot from the discussions with him and the answers he  
provided.

Those of you who have had the chance to meet him at various Wocoa  
developer meetings and other opportunities will probably remember him  
as an extraordinarily intelligent, humorous and very nice person with  
whom it was always a pleasure to hang out.

I have had the pleasure to work with him for more than a year and I  
really enjoyed it and had a great time with him. I'm missing a friend  
and a mentor. My heart is full of sorrow and I'm still completely  
flummoxed. People just don't die in their 30s - there are too dreams  
that need to come true, too many crazy ideas, there's still so much  
you want to do, so many things to check out, YOU WANT TO LIVE!

In our time, there's always something important to do, and there's  
always a tomorrow and another time to make things right, to thank a  
friend for everything he's done for you. "It's just not _that_  
important now, I can do that later" - and all of a sudden, it's over.  
Sometimes, destiny does not wait for you until you got the  
"important" things done.

Keep this in mind, be grateful for the gift of life and all the  
opportunities and chances it gives you, tell your friends and family  
what they mean to you, say "thank you" when it's due and check your  
schedule and your priorities. Many things in life are really much  
less important than they may seem at first sight. Use your chances  
while you can.

Thanks David - for all your help, for the great time I had with you,  
for many heated discussions, for your advice, for the fun we had, for  
the hard times we had and simply for being what you were.

We'll be missing you.

Ralph